Emergency Medical Evacuation

While visiting Turkey with his university group on a WorldStrides Capstone program, a student experienced a sudden heart attack attributed to an undiagnosed heart condition. Within one hour of the student’s collapse in Istanbul, Dr. Christopher Lang, WorldStrides Medical Director, was on the phone with the attending physician in Turkey. He determined that the nearby Turkish hospital was inadequate to care for the student’s critical needs, and worked to have the student immediately transferred to a more suitable hospital nearby, putting emergency medical evacuation plans into action. Meanwhile, the Capstone leadership team in the United States immediately arranged air travel, international cell phones, ground transportation, and accommodations for the student’s parents, who were on their way to Turkey within hours. A representative of the university’s risk management team was flown out as well.

Travel and medical evacuation costs in excess of $100,000 were covered by WorldStrides. Our embedded insurance for medical evacuation ensured that the student’s family could focus on their needs without concern for the costs associated.